Snake time

I saw a snake in my shed today. I was going out there to clean up my shed and as I walked out a snake poked its head out. I shouted in surprise and it ducked back into my shed. I looked online and I think it was this snake.

I went back out to the shed to take a picture of it to better identify it, and to remove it. It was gone. I did not do a really through search, but I did not hear it moving or see it and I made a ruckus. That makes two snakes in my yard in the last month. This is the first time I have seen any snakes in my yard in years. I saw one by the burn pile, and bessy killed a baby snake once. They have never been this close to my house.

I may have to install come countermeasures...

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I really want to just love it. I wanted it to be the pinnacle of a terrific collection of movies, but for me it was not. I enjoyed it nearly every step of the way even after I realized that the crystal skull was definitely alien in origin. I was going to be okay with that. I really enjoyed the scene where Mutt and Indiana are fighting the two guys guarding the tomb of the Spanish explorer, and Indiana blows a dart in the crazy tunnel guy's throat. When Mutt asks, "You're a teacher?" the way Harrison Ford shrugs and says, "Part time." it was a great scene and just what I expect from an Indiana Jones movie.

Now to the parts that hurt the movie. The scene where Mutt is swinging through the jungle with a group of monkeys just broke my suspension of disbelief. There comes a point where I just cannot believe it. For me it was another example of Lucas putting a scene into his movie just to show off his special effects. The scene did not add anything to the movie for me. Then the sacrifice of the guys who has been out for himself the entire time was weird for me. I just could not buy it that the guy would give himself up like that. Then the spaceship flies off into the sky. The lesson about the pursuit of power was a good one, and there were some elements that I enjoyed, but it was not the final movie I hoped it would be.

7 talons out of 10

Rating Previews Part II

There are many previews out there to watch. The main point of a preview is to grab your attention and make you want to watch the movie is it giving you a hint about. For example when I first saw the preview for the movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull I was excited. I really like the Indiana Jones movies and thought they would be over. The first preview played into that. It began by showing clips from the previous movies and giving one liners about what happened in those movies. It was really rousing. Then it began giving clips from the movie to come. It had everything it was supposed to. It even played into Indiana Jones being older by having the characters comment on how much harder it was to do what they were doing. Then we see Dr. Jones miss swinging into the back of a truck, haha good times. When I see a metal container with the words Area 51 on it I begin to think this might not be good . That scene was a warning sign.

Indiana Jones is not Science Fiction. I has always had a spiritual feel to it from the beginning. Two of the movies dealt with artifacts from the Bible. Area 51 should never have been in the movie. It really does not belong. When I see or hear area 51 it is like a joke. Nearly every sci fi show out there references it when they have run out of original ideas. I cannot take it seriously.

Overall I was excited to see how the movie played out. Was it going to be a sci fi movie with Indiana Jones in it, or another continent hopping Indiana Jones adventure. I would have to go see it to know.

Rating Previews

I like to watch movies. A really good movie can be hard to find. I can usually tell how good a movie is going to be from the preview. There are many things to consider when evaluating the preview. First I consider the plot that the preview is trying to get across. It is the same old action plot where the hero fights by himself against an army of European guys, or does the plot seem different original. Sometimes it is even okay if the plot is an old one if it is told in a new way or has a twist.

More to come with examples.

Vacation

I have been on overdrive for the last four weeks. After school let out I had a week which I spent making bamboo wind chime kits. Then we went to the beach. When I came back from the beach we started VBS the next day. We had VBS til Wednesday of that week. That Thursday and Friday was spent preparing for Clara's birthday party.
She had a water party so I had to clean the yard rake etc.
Then a thirty foot branch fell in the yard.

I left it. It was going to take too much time cutting it and clearing it out. Time I did not have. It was far from where the festivities were. We left for Dollywood the next day.
We got back July 3rd and had to prepare for the cook off. Congrats to Andrew for winning this year. Wow the summer is just flying by.

Yard saleing

I went yard saleing yesterday in Spartanburg. We left Gaffney at 6:15 and hit some great sales. First we went to a church sale, then various yard sales, and an estate sale listed at Momma's moving out. It is always great fun to go yard saleing with my parents. We had a good time. We had some great buys and I feel the need to document my purchases for posterity.

$3 Nerf Buzzsaw
$.25 Nerf Night Finder
$1.75 Tibetan Singing Bowl
$.25 Pole sprinkler
$1 The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
$3 Bernzomatic TS2000 Self Lighting Torch and propane tank
$.50 Leather binder with handles
$.25 Mini Hawaii mug
$1 Stone flower ring
$1 Bubble gun

My mom also bought a fish thing for Charlie's crib and my Dad bought this plastic spear thing because he thought it would be funny for me to come home with it.

New Door

I replaced the broken door handle on my Town and Country van. I hope to use my experience to make an instructable on how to do it. I guess all the focus on hyperdriving led to me fixing things on the van. The only thing is that it is not the right color, but a long as it works, I can deal with that for now. I have been trying to balance my hobbies lately. Card, reading, writing, and misc. Maybe I have too many hobbies, but I enjoy all of them. I guess I need to organize them. I have tried organizing my life before via Web 2.0 websites like Don't forget the milk, or mindmapper ,but I just never stay committed to keeping up with it. What I need is a personal AI assistant like Tony Stark to help me with my projects. Which just leads to another hobby. sigh...